The New Jersey Devils went toe-to-toe with the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night, and they came out the winners 4-3. Toe-to-toe is the literal sense of the game, as both teams were feisty all night. It started with J.T. Compher’s hit on Nico Hischier that drew a boarding penalty, and it ended with a line brawl as the buzzer sounded that had both teams throwing punches.
It was a particularly physical game, which is good to see the Devils respond well to. They didn’t take nearly as many shots as the Red Wings, but they still scored four goals and got the two points in the standings.
There were a few physical plays that could be considered dirty on both sides, but there are two that stand out. The first is the butt-end spear by Detroit defenseman Ben Chiarot. In the middle of a scrum, as things were calming down, Chiarot lifted his stick up and hit young defenseman Simon Nemec right in the stomach.
Nemec went down to the locker room, which scared many Devils fans. Luckily, he was able to return before his next shift and finish the game.
We might be working in conjecture when saying Chiarot was "trying to injure" Simon Nemec, but there's no other value to a butt end except to cause extreme pain. It's about as dirty of a play as any in hockey today.
The other play was assumed to be in response to the butt end. Jonas Siegenthaler skated up to Lucas Raymond, who didn’t have the puck, and he laid a decent hit into his chest. It caught everyone off guard, including the referees who called no penalty.
Both plays could have easily been called for five-minute majors, but no penalty was called on the ice. Still, the NHL Department of Player Safety weighed in on Chiarot’s conduct.
Detroit’s Ben Chiarot has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for butt-ending New Jersey’s Simon Nemec.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 25, 2025
He was given a $5,000 fine for his antics. Some were looking for Chiarot to get a suspension, but that seemed unlikely since his past with the DoPS is now a few years ago.
We’re still waiting to hear from DoPS on Siegenthaler’s hit, but we expect more of the same. It will be a fine, but hopefully he won’t get suspended. Siegenthaler didn’t attack the head, and that seems to be where the NHL will lay down the hammer.